Amazon Prime Store Card Review

If you’re a Prime member who has a seemingly never-ending series of Amazon deliveries en route to your house, chances are you can benefit from the Amazon Prime Store Card. That’s because the card offers a very generous rewards rate: Prime cardholders can earn 5% back at Amazon.com

In lieu of rewards, you can also opt for special financing on purchases of $150 or more. But beware — this option can lead to pricey interest charges if you’re unable to pay the balance in full within the promotional period.

Overall, we mainly recommend the Amazon Prime Store Card if you choose to earn rewards over the special financing option, and if you intend to pay your balance in full each month. But if you plan to carry a balance from month to month and want more flexibility in where you can earn and use your rewards, a cash back card like the Bank of America^® Customized Cash Rewards credit card may be a better alternative.

• Earns generous cash back for Prime members

  Prime cardholders can earn 5% back at Amazon.com when using the Amazon Prime Store Card. You can redeem that cash back toward eligible Amazon purchases or as a statement credit to your card.

  Note, however, that if you opt for special financing, you can’t earn cash back on those purchases.

• Get an Amazon gift card upon approval

  The Amazon Prime Store Card makes it easy to earn its sign-up bonus. Get a $10 Amazon Gift Card upon approval.

  While there are definitely cash back cards available that offer much more lucrative sign-up bonuses, be aware that they often require you to spend $3,000 in the first three months of card membership to earn the bonus.

• There are options for promotional financing

  On purchases of $150 or more, you’ll have a chance to choose between earning 5% cash back (if you have a Prime membership) or taking advantage of promotional financing. Amazon offers two types of promotional financing — special financing and equal payments.

  With special financing on purchases, you’ll have six, 12 or 24 months — depending on the purchase amount — to pay off your item. If you pay it off within that period, you won’t be charged interest.

  For equal payments financing, you’ll also have six, 12 or 24 months — again, depending on purchase amount — to make set monthly payments. If you pay it off as planned, you won’t accrue interest.

  However, the special financing option involves what’s called deferred interest, and this can be dangerous. If you don’t pay off the full purchase amount within the promotional financing period, you will be hit with interest from the original date of purchase.

• Charges no annual fee

  When you combine the chance to earn cash back at a generous rate with a $0 annual fee, you have a winner. However, you’ll need an Amazon Prime membership, which costs $139 for an annual plan (or $69 if you’re a college student). It will take $2,380 in spending on purchases that earn 5% cash back to recoup that membership cost (or $1,180 in spending to recoup the student plan amount).

• You won't earn cash back without a Prime membership

  If you don’t have an Amazon Prime membership, you’ll only qualify for the Amazon.com Store Card, which doesn’t earn cash back (though it does offer the same promotional financing options as the Amazon Prime Store Card).

• Beware of the risk of deferred interest

  If you decide to use special financing with the Amazon Prime Store Card (available when making a purchase of $150 or more), you should know it involves deferred interest. Unlike a 0% intro APR period, financing with deferred interest means you’ll be hit with interest charges from the date of purchase if you don’t pay off the full amount within the promotional period.

  That’s likely to be quite expensive, especially with this card’s high 29.99% APR. If you still decide you want to make use of a special financing period, make sure you know exactly when it ends so there’s no doubt about when you need to have paid off the entire purchase — and don’t assume the minimum monthly payments will be enough to pay off your purchase in full.

• The card comes with a very high APR

  The Amazon Prime Store Card has a 29.99% APR. If you roll over a balance from month to month, you’re sure to see some pricey interest charges. But if you manage to pay off your card in full every billing cycle, you can avoid interest charges altogether.

• You can only use this card for Amazon purchases

  This shouldn’t be a surprise, because the Amazon Prime Store Card is a store card, but you can only use it for Amazon shopping (including Audible and comiXology). If you need a credit card you can use elsewhere, this isn’t it. Consider the Prime Visa instead.

  The Prime Visa also comes with many more benefits than the Amazon Prime Store Card, such as extended warranty protection, purchase protection, lost luggage reimbursement and baggage delay insurance.

Compare it to the Bank of America^® Customized Cash Rewards credit card

 

If you’re looking for a card that offers more flexibility than the Amazon Prime Store Card, the Bank of America^® Customized Cash Rewards credit card has it in spades. For one thing, this is not a store card, meaning you can use it in places where you can’t use the Amazon Prime Store Card. For another, the Bank of America^® Customized Cash Rewards credit card comes with a unique rewards structure where you pick your 3% category (and can change your selection as frequently as every month).

You’ll earn 3% cash back in the category of your choice. 2% cash back at grocery stores and wholesale clubs for the first $2,500 in combined choice category/grocery store/wholesale club quarterly purchases. 1% cash back on all other purchases. For the 3% category, you can choose from gas, EV charging, online shopping, cable/streaming/internet/phone services, dining, travel, drug stores and home improvement/furnishings. Merchants in the online shopping category include Amazon, as well as the Apple App Store (and iTunes), Etsy, Target.com and Walmart.com.

The Bank of America^® Customized Cash Rewards credit card also offers a solid sign-up bonus, which lets you earn a $200 online cash rewards bonus after you make at least $1,000 in purchases in the first 90 days of account opening. Spending about $333.33 per month for three months should get you there.

The annual fee to carry the Bank of America^® Customized Cash Rewards credit card is $0.

Last but not least, the Bank of America^® Customized Cash Rewards credit card comes with solid intro APR periods on purchases and balance transfers. Enjoy a 0% Intro APR for 15 billing cycles. After, a 18.74% - 28.74% Variable APR applies. If you’ve got existing debt on another high-interest credit card, you can transfer it to this one and take advantage of a 0% Intro APR for 15 billing cycles for any balance transfers made in the first 60 days. After, a 18.74% - 28.74% Variable APR on balance transfers applies. The balance transfer fee is reasonable at 3% for 60 days from account opening, then 4%.

If you already have an Amazon Prime membership, and you aren’t looking for a card you can use outside of Amazon, the Amazon Prime Store Card offers a chance to earn cash back at a great rate for a $0 annual fee. And if you need time to pay off a big purchase, the promotional financing offers on this card can help (just make sure to pay off the purchase in full within the promotional period to avoid deferred interest).

However, if you’re looking for a card that can still reward your online shopping while offering more flexibility, consider the Bank of America^® Customized Cash Rewards credit card or the Prime Visa rather than the Amazon Prime Store Card.

Meanwhile, consumers looking to establish credit or improve their credit score would likely be better served by the Amazon Secured Card (which requires a security deposit in the amount of your desired credit limit).